the prison hospital

Alongside the southern wall of the prison complex, along Lichtenauer Strasse, the hospital section is located. Even here, there was no mercy. Sick inmates were treated to transfer them back into the prison section as quickly as possible. The tour guides told us a lot of details and stories about what happened in there. Rest assured, it was definitely no place to be.

The last ever patient was Erich Mielke, the minister for safety of the state, aka "STASI", the boss of the secret police of the GDR shortly after the reunification of Germany. The STASI ran that whole place. I guess that he had no opportunity to "enjoy" some of the treatments the former inmates were treated with.

Having seen all this was quite an experience. The air in there was kind of "thick". Even today the odd smell of the old antiseptics is still discernible. A once awful place, a memorial today.